Diagnostic data bus for acquiring and communicating diagnostic information from HVAC systems

• US 10,139,122 B2
• Filed: 01/26/2016
• Issued: 11/27/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 01/26/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Trane International Inc. (Trane Technologies plc)
• Original Assignee: Trane International Inc. (Trane Technologies plc)
• Inventors: Blair, Daniel John, Garrett, Carl L., Groskreutz, Mark E., Stewart, Jeffrey L., Mutchnik, Karl J., Daugherty, III, William David, Imam, Mahfuz, Chen, Gang (Jacky)
• Primary Examiner(s): Patel, Ramesh
• Application Number:
  US15/006,584
• Publication Number:
  US 20160215996A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,036 Days
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/30 for purposes related to the operation of the system, e.g. for safety or monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/38 Failure diagnosis
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/58 using Internet communication
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/62 characterised by the type of control or by internal processing, e.g. using fuzzy logic, adaptive control or estimation of values
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/63 Electronic processing
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/64 using pre-stored data
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 2110/00 Control inputs relating to air properties
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 15/02 electric
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 23/0227 Qualitative history assessment, whereby the type of data acted upon, e.g. waveforms, images or patterns, is not relevant, e.g. rule based assessment; if-then decisions
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/187 Machine fault alarms

Abstract

A diagnostic data collection device and a diagnostic data bus are disclosed. In an embodiment, the diagnostic data collection device includes a diagnostic communication interface and a flexible interface module. The interface module is configurable to measure one or more electrical properties associated with an HVAC component, such as voltage, current, resistance. Electrical properties may include a sensor output and may include analog and digital signals. The diagnostic data collection device generates an exception message if the sensed property is out of specification. Evaluation rules are provided to detect various types of failures, including transient failures, steady state failures, and trending failures. The diagnostic data collection device self-calibrates by recording electrical properties during normal operation of the HVAC equipment. A plurality of diagnostic data collection devices may be coupled by a diagnostic data bug independent of the HVAC system'"'"'s control bus, to ensure operational integrity of the diagnostic system.

Claims

1. An HVAC diagnostic system, comprising:

a data network,

a diagnostic data bus,

an HVAC control bus independent of the diagnostic data bus operatively associated with at least one HVAC component;

a plurality of data gathering devices, each comprising;

a sensing interface configurable to measure an electrical property associated with one of the at least one HVAC components; and

a diagnostic interface in operative communication with the diagnostic data bus;

wherein each of the plurality of data gathering devices is configured to generate an exception message when the measured electrical property is anomalous;

wherein at least one of the plurality of data gathering devices further comprises a network interface in operative communication with the data network and configured to bridge the diagnostic data bus to the data network; and

a server in operative communication with the data network and configured to receive an exception message from one or more of the plurality of data gathering devices, calculate a probability of a fault occurring in an HVAC component based on the received exception message, and generate an alert in response to the probability of the fault exceeding a predetermined threshold.

2. The HVAC diagnostic system in accordance with claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of data gathering devices further includes:

an exception module, comprising;

a baseline setting module operatively coupled to the controller and the sensing interface, the baseline setting module configured to determine a baseline parameter for the HVAC component; and

a change detection module storing a parameter rule indicating an acceptable range for an operational parameter, the change detection module configured to receive the sensor signal, evaluate the sensor signal and the baseline parameter in accordance with the parameter rule, and to issue an exception message if the sensor signal is outside the accepted range defined by the parameter rule.

3. The HVAC diagnostic system in accordance with claim 2, wherein the baseline parameter is determined by sampling an initial value of the measured electrical property.

4. The HVAC diagnostic system in accordance with claim 2, wherein the exception message includes data selected from the group consisting of a data gathering device unique identifier, a data gathering device location, an exception identifier, a sensed parameter, a timestamp, and a unique sequence number.

5. The HVAC diagnostic system in accordance with claim 1, further comprising a database in operative communication with the server, wherein the exception message includes event data comprising a record of an exception event and a date and time of occurrence of the exception event, wherein the server is further configured to:

aggregate the event data;

calculate the probability of the fault based on the aggregated data; and

store, in the database, the aggregated data, the probability calculated, and a record of the alert generated.

6. An HVAC diagnostic system for use with an HVAC system, comprising:

a data network;

a diagnostic data bus;

an HVAC control bus independent of the diagnostic data bus operatively associated with at least one HVAC component;

a plurality of data gathering devices, each comprising;

a sensing interface configured to measure a property associated with the HVAC system; and

a diagnostic interface in operative communication with the diagnostic data bus;

wherein at least one of the plurality of data gathering devices further comprises a network interface in operative communication with the data network and configured to bridge the diagnostic data bus to the data network; and

a server in operative communication with the data network and configured to receive data from at least one data gathering device, determine a probability of an HVAC system fault occurring utilizing the received data, and generate an alert in response.

7. The HVAC diagnostic system in accordance with claim 6, wherein the property associated with the HVAC system is selected from the group consisting of a physical parameter and an electrical parameter.

8. The HVAC diagnostic system in accordance with claim 6, wherein the interface is further configured to communicate with a data port associated with the HVAC system.

9. The HVAC diagnostic system in accordance with claim 8, wherein the data gathering device is further configured to:

receive data from the data port; and

transmit the data received from the data port to the server.